Under the Whale, Under the Whale . . . .

I slept under the great blue whale on Saturday night!  The blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History, that is.  With my family and a few hundred others.  It was the museum’s famous sleepover, our own Night at the Museum.  And it was wonderful!  I don’t have an official bucket list, just an idea of things I’d like to do, including speak another language and play piano (check! check!), and this had been on it for a long time.  In fact, generally speaking, I’d wanted to sleep in some kind of museum ever since I read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler.

We arrived with sleeping bags and stuff in tow, around 4 p.m., earlier than needed.  We were hungry and so headed to CPW where there were food carts.  We started with lovely Waffles&Dinges, including a waffle with ice cream, one with caramel apples, and one with speculoos cookie supreme.   We also got Nathan’s hot dogs and crinkle fries.

We didn’t know yet where exactly we would be sleeping.  In addition to the whale, guests also slept with North American mammals and the hall of minerals.  I wanted the whale and was thrilled that we got it (I think our crowd was below the 465 people maximum and so everyone slept under the whale!)  I was so excited.  We waited awhile as the guards quickly cleared the museum and then were escorted to the Hall of Biodiversity and Oceana, where we chose a spot on the edge, under the tail, near the polar bear.  Cots were provided and made a good sleeping spot.  But that was not for six hours!

In the meantime, we had almost free range of the museum.  We wandered the semi-dark and almost completely empty hallways.  A volunteer took our photo in the magnificint entry hall with the dinosaurs—with no one else around!  We were alone with the Moai—“dum dum, me want gum gum” if you know the Night at the Museum movie.  We saw the birds, the Plains Indians, the Asian peoples, mostly by ourselves.  It reminded me of my years working at museums, where I greatly enjoyed being alone when they were closed to the public.  This is as close as I’ll be able to share that with the kids. 

We saw an animal demonstration, with Barn Owl, Golden Eagle, alligator, opossum, black-throated monitor, and python.  We wandered the dinosaur halls during a flashlight fossil find, shining our lights on the stegosaurus, triceratops, titannicasaurus, and pterodactyls.  Mama, who took photos throughout the whole evening, had fun photographing the illuminated fossils.  We also stood in the darkened turret and looked out over the city.  And then we saw a movie on the wonders of the Arctic!  Plus a snack and a bedtime story. 

My favorite part, besides the experience of being in the museum after closing, was visiting the butterflies.  I love butterfly-ariums!  The one at AMNH is small, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  I even had a few land on me—one on my hand, one on my shoulder, one of my skirt, and one on my forehead!  That last one, an owl butterfly, stayed put for 20 minutes even as I walked around; I finally had an attendant remove it so we could continue our explorations.  It felt so light, and tickly, like my own live butterfly headdress.  Sis had one land on her arm and Bud had one do a touch-and-go landing on him, too. 

And then we readied for bed under the whale, around midnight.  Many kids were riled up, running around screaming, but Bud was asleep before the bedtime story (Trenc’s original picture book Night at the Museum) and Sis was asleep right after I gave her one of my ear plugs and didn’t even hear me sing “Baby Beluga” to her.  I listened to the ruckus but mainly focused on the whale above me, flickering in the flashlight lights as if it were under the sea.  This effect was even stronger when they shut off all but emergency lights, but the sky lights behind the whale were swirled shades of blue.  Beautiful, mesmerizing.  I almost couldn’t sleep.

The view from my cot

But eventually I did, waking only once when Sis needed the restroom.  The hall of hundreds of people was very quiet, except two very loud almost caricaturish snorers, and that beautiful whale.  I loved sleeping "under the sea."

The next morning found us having a quick breakfast, picking up some pins and magnets at the shop, and heading home, talking about how this was tied for best sleepover ever with the 19^th-century ship Conrad at Mystic.   It just occurred to me that both have connections to whale, though the latter’s is pretty gruesome.

I much prefer the image of that giant blue whale above us.  I’ll treasure that for a long time to come.

(No) Slumber Party

Tonight, Sis is celebrating her 11th birthday with some friends.  It's her first solo birthday party, meaning without Bud.  Bud's taking it a little bit hard to be left out, especially because they share so many friends.  So, he's out to a nice dinner, movie, and hotel with a big pool with Mama; he'll have his own birthday party in a few weeks . . . and he's not inviting her.

Sigh.

There's a lot of fun going on here tonight, though.  It's Sis's first time to host a sleepover like this, with more than one friend, and a party at home to boot (almost all the other parties have been out and about.)  Fried chicken and homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner, with some corn.  Then make-your-own jar cakes with yellow cake, brownies, fudge frosting, white frosting, jam, sprinkles, M&Ms, and whipped cream.  These went in the fridge while they played outside; then they came inside to decorate wooden letters with markers.  Sis also opened some nice gifts--books and arts and crafts and such.  Then they ate cake (after Sis blew out some candles!) and are now singing and dancing and talking downstairs.

Later, they might do henna and then watch a film (they were all at odds over which film.)

A few of the girls had never been here before, so Sis gave them a quick tour (mainly to locate the bathrooms and their lights, which are tricky.)  One of them said our house was so friendly, which is about the nicest compliment I've ever had about our home.  I only had a few rules--stay out of Bud's room, ask before heading outside, watch for the cats so they don't go outside--and said they could stay up as late as they'd like.  I don't imagine they'll get much sleep.  I'm not sure I will, either.  All in the name of great fun and wonderful memories.

As I'm not needed for now (they'll want some help with henna, I imagine) and I want to give them some space, I'm lying down and watching old episodes of "Downton Abbey."  And thinking of some of my own slumber parties (once, in a tent in the backyard--in December!--we ate GORP and cooked our meals on the grill, including blueberry pancakes.)  Such fun.

Happy birthday, Sis!

24-Hour Sleepover Special

1:30 p.m.  We arrived at our hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  It's close to Old Sturbridge Village, where Sis and I would be overnighting with the Girl Scouts, and has a cute poster of OSV in reception.  Mama took the kids to the Village to look around; I stayed back and stretch and rest.  It's going to be a long night.

While they're out, I got several emails with photos, particularly of them sledding down the hill and of the woolly sheep in the barnyard.  

Mama even gave it a whirl!

4:00 p.m.   We head to dinner at the Publick House nearby, which is an eighteenth-century tavern turned restaurant, inn, and banqueting facility.  A reception was ending as we arrived; a wedding ceremony was being set up as we left!  We ate next to the hearth in the tavern room and had traditional New England fare:  sweet buns, yeast rolls, pumpkin bread, lobster pie, chicken pot pie, poached salmon, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, Grape Nut pudding, Indian pudding, apple pie, and an almond raspberry tart.  Delicious!  And the historical ambience made it even better.  

Oh, and Sis lost a tooth while eating her pot pie!  That girl, teeth coming left and right these days (which is overwhelming our forgetful Tooth Fairy, named Meadow Larkspur.)

5:30 p.m.   We took a quick break before the evening activities, and then . . . 

6:30 p.m.   Our Hop Into History sleepover at Old Sturbridge Village began!  We had 13 girls and six chaperones, which is almost our full troop sans three.  We got our gear settled into our sleeping space (eventually because we changed places once) and started our evening activities.  I have to say that I loved the education building.  It was an open, airy, light space with dozens of semi-divided "classrooms."  Some had old-time kitchens with wooden tables for prep and hearths for cooking; some had looms, others had printing presses.  Everywhere there were hutches, redware pottery, tin utensils, and other period details.  Definitely an educator's paradise.  (Our sleeping space was in one of these homey kitchens.

7:30 p.m.  Our first activity was making Jumbles, or cookies.  They mixed them in a redware bowl with a birch whisk, using rosewater for flavoring (there wasn't any vanilla in the States in the 1830s, I believe.)  Then we baked them on cookie sheets in reflecting ovens placed before a burning fire.  They also made lemonade using powdery sour citric acid, lemon juice, sugar, and water.  All the girls tasted the citric acid and made pucker faces!  These two treats would form our late night snack. 

Next the girls moved to the painting area, where they outlined dogwood flowers on acetate with Sharpies and then colored them in with paints.  Meanwhile, the guide touched delicately on labor issues and had the girls commute how quickly they would have to work to make a dollar a day.  Sis did the math--one painting every twelve minutes for 10 hours at 2 cents each would earn the dollar.  And the girls didn't work anywhere near that fast!

After baking and painting, the group went on a one-hour tour of the village by lantern light.  I stayed back because it was uneven and icy (apparently it was also speedy and I would have had trouble keeping up regardless.)  I've seen the village by candlelight at Christmas so I didn't feel like I was missing much.  

9:00 p.m. Instead, I lay on my little mat and stretched and drew this mandala inspired by some of the early American art around me. See the 9 square and flying geese and Celtic rope?

10:00 p.m.  When they returned from their hike, we had our snack (I couldn't taste the rosewater) and got ready for bed.  This was the part that made me nervous, both for my own ability to sleep on the floor without messing up my back and also for the girls actually getting some sleep.  The former was easier than the latter!  I set up my mat near the entrance to our little area, with my chair nearby. Sis was on the other side of the chimney near her friends. The girls played cards for awhile and then giggled a lot longer.  They stayed chatty after lights out and the lead staff member reprimanded us a few times.  Of course, I'm such a rule follower that I was bothered by the noise--I would have been one of the quiet girls--but in the end, there's not much you can do to shush a bunch of ten-year-olds!  

11:30 p.m.  They fell asleep eventually (though we had one girl who got ill, but she got better quickly--and luckily her mom was with us)--and it was the girls from the other groups who were playing flashlight wars and running around in the dark back and forth to the bathroom (their chaperones were asleep in another section--not very smart, but then I guess it meant the chaperones got to sleep!)  Of course, I didn't sleep much at all.  I imagine I slept in fifteen-minute chunks, or so, listening to all the unusual noises and worrying about the sick girl (and the threat of more sick girls, ugh.  But no one else threw up.)  My bed was as comfortable as it could be and I moved back and forth between it and the chair, which is super comfortable.

6:00 a.m.  By the way, those noisy, wandering girls from the other group?  They woke up and started talking--loudly--an hour before wake-up time!!  The Tooth Fairy had visited Sis in the night, though she needed some help finding Sis, and then Sis didn't find the money.  I knew it had been delivered--how do you say that, though?  So I said I thought I'd seen the Fairy, digging deeper. . . . but it was only very much later that we found the money in her bedding.  I think, though, the proverbial cat is out of the sleeping bag.  (Though, I think it had been for awhile.)  On an up note:  I think all the short naps overnight kept my back from tightening up too much because I was pretty unharmed and barely even stiff after a night on the floor.  Not sure if it was preparation or a miracle, but I'll take it!

7:30 a.m.  We had breakfast--bagels, cereal, and Hasty Pudding (made in a crock pot with white cornmeal, salt, and water) served with craisins and sugar.  Kinda like grits, I thought it needed butter and cream!  No wonder it is a "hasty" meal.

8:15 a.m.  We hiked into the snow-covered village that morning to see a storytelling performance in the lovely old meeting houses.  The kids sat quiet and interested in stories about an old wise magic fish and another about a contest with Old Man Winter.  

 9:15 a.m.  We're packed and ready to go.  Al the girls return to their folks, many head into the village.  Mama and Bud pick us up and I get a quick shower before we head back to the Village.  Bud and Mama had driven around doing some Ingress tracking and then played some games in the hotel.  So not as exciting as our night, but they had a good time.

10:00 a.m.  We wandered around OSV, eventually running into our GS friends.  Sis and Bud enjoyed hanging out with them.  I liked watching the cooking demos, as usual--apple pie in the Parsonage and maple cookies in the Fitch House.  We also picked up some beer bread and maple soda in the little shop.

Then we went to the craft center, where Mama made a spile (the little wooden pegs you use to tap trees for maple sugar time) and I hand-sewed a little seed bag.

12:00 p.m.  For lunch, we went to BT's Smokehouse across the street from the Village.  The line was long, as was the wait.  And it was amazing barbecue!  We had brisket sandwiches, St. Louis ribs, pastrami on rye, smoked salmon, and all the fixin's--the very best collards ever, Texas caviar, mac and cheese, cornbread, cole slaw, and more.  Even Tagalong bread pudding.

And thus, at 3:00 p.m., a little over 24 hours later, we returned home from our special sleepover.  Exhausted, excited, stuffed to the gills.  Sis has already asked where we're overnighting next!

Summer Fun: Summer Days and Nights

We've had a busy ten days or so.  Last week was Bud's week at day camp, his third year at this particular place.  It's a traditional outdoor camp with swimming, games, crafts, games, and activities.  This year, he loved the zip line!   It was a rainy week for camp, though, with Thursday being the first day it didn't shower on them.

Meanwhile, Sis was home with me.  Unlike Bud, she had some friends over a few different times, even going to the movies with one.  And then there was her first sleepover!  She had a friend over on Friday.  And it was great.  I realized that my job as the mom was to feed them, provide entertainment, and step back.  Dinner took a little longer than I expected because Sis wanted to cook out on our campfire and the coals weren't cooperating.  But the friend, who has some of the best manners I've ever seen on a child, was really flexible and liked dinner, which was pocket stew and s'mores.  They also caught fireflies and played on the swingset until the mosquitoes got bad.  Then they watched the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which Sis's friend hadn't seen, though she is also a huge DW fan.

The only downside is that Bud's own overnight--his first--at his kung fu academy was canceled.  I was mad at the coach because Bud was disappointed.  The coach is probably also canceling kung fu camp, which is also disappointing for Bud.  Good thing Bud doesn't mind too much and that he really likes kung fu.

Last week was also a festival we always go to, this year themed as kind of a country hoedown.  There were even real horses and cowboys and a mechanical bull!  Sis loved the horses and the petting zoo with a calf, a goat, ducks, chickens, sheep, and even a llama.  And Bud line danced the whole night.  "Mom, I will always remember tonight as the night I discovered line dancing."  You should have seen him boot, scoot, and boogie!  I got it all on video, at his request--so he can practice!!

Then over the weekend, we went down to the city to see my in-laws before they head to Thailand.  The kids' great-grandfather, Lao Gong, who is 94+, has metastasized lung cancer.  Ma and Gong are going to stay as long as they can, so this was probably our only shot at the beach for the summer.  And they loved it! They played in the sand and in the waves.  There was a rip tide so they could only wade in, not using the boards Ma and Gong got them.  We also had two wonderful meals and treats from the ice cream truck, not getting home until after 10 p.m.

And now it's another week of camp, this time both of them together.  So I'm home alone, my own "camp" this summer.  In fact, I am taking a camp, a Summer Soul Camp, with Heather Bruggerman of Beauty that Moves.  Just a way to rest and rejuvenate before the rest of the summer.

Sleeping with the Fish

Not "fishes."  This isn't a mafia thing.

It was a Girl Scout overnight at the aquarium.  Mama went with Sis and the troop, in my stead, since I couldn't sleep on the floor (no cots allowed.)  And they had a wonderful time.  Tour of the aquarium, IMAX movie, plaster shell art activity, feeding the seals, pizza dinner, cookie bedtime snack, and, best of all, sleeping in the galleries.  Our troop was with the sea turtle.  Though, apparently there was very little sleeping, with the girls giggling until 1:30 a.m. and wake up around 7:00 a.m.  Not enough sleep for anyone.  But they had a good time.  Sis is one of the only ones in her troop who hasn't been on a sleepover so we weren't sure how she'd do, hence Mama's attendance; she loved being with her friends and will probably be just fine for her first independent overnight.

Meanwhile, Bud and I were home alone.  We had a big Italian dinner--I got lasagna because Bud has wanted to try it since reading Garfield, who loves lasagna; Bud had his usual seafood pasta.  Then we watched Star Wars:  Attack of the Clones, while eating candy in bed.  We finished off the evening with some Minecraft.  Sure, it's not sea turtles, but it was a fun evening.  And we got a lot more sleep.  (However, he probably isn't ready for a sleepover; he sleeps too much like a heat-seeking baby koala bear, even in a big bed!)

Tenting Tonight

With our coat rack in the middle of the room and blankets and sheets attached via rubberband and festooned around the room, the kiddos are camping out in their room tonight. Sleeping bags, flashlights, books, pencils and paper, a later bedtime, everything but snacks and the sounds of the outdoors at night to complete the experience. And like any sleepover, I'm expecting the midnight discombobulation from sleeping under their floor under a giant, dark canopy to wake us all up. Still, it was a very happy bedtime.

Sleep Tight*

We had a slumber party here on Friday night.

The kids had been planning it with their friends on the bus for a week: s'mores, sleeping bags, flashlights, games, snacks, staying up late.

And so that's just what we did.

Except by ourselves.

Yep, we practiced having a sleepover because the kids are still too young to have a real one. In fact, when they were talking about going to a slumber party, they thought we would go too! "But, Mom, I can't sleep without you there!"

The party started when they got home midday, making it the longest slumber party ever! We had their favorite lunch, played in the house and the yard, had an early bubble bath, watched Star Wars for rest time, and then played with the new lightsabers I'd gotten just for the occasion. They ran around the house playing Star Wars. Sis is always Luke. Bud is Han. I'm Princess Leia. Mama is, well, either R2-D2 or a Jawa. She makes a great beep.

We put the kids to bed early, at 6 pm, so that they had plenty of time to play before "lights out" at 8:15 pm. They took up coloring books, other books, flashlights, and who-knows-what-else to pass the time. And for awhile we only heard happy squeaks and squeals.

But about an hour later, Sis came out, disappointed, "I don't know what to do anymore. What are we supposed to do?" And so she invited Mama and I to join them.

We brought Candy Land and a snack. What could be more fun: staying up late, eating after brushing AND upstairs, telling stories and signing songs, and hanging out with moms? Okay, sure, not every slumber partier would think that last one was cool, but it is when you're 5.

And 40!

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*"Sleep tight," I have only recently learned, has nothing to do with rope beds, probably originated at the end of the 19th century, and most likely meant "sleep snugly." Go figure. I've been passing around the false etymology for years.